Examples

Linguistic items prone to the recency illusion include:

"Singular they": the use of they, them, or their to reference a singular antecedent without specific gender, as in someone said they liked the play. Although this usage is often cited as a modern invention, it is quite old.[3] The usage is found, for example, in Shakespeare.[4]

The phrase between you and I (rather than between you and me), often viewed today as a hypercorrection, which could also be found occasionally in Early Modern English.[3]

The intensifierreally as in it was a really wonderful experience, and the moderating adverb pretty as in it was a pretty exciting experience: many people have the impression that these usages are somewhat slang-like, and have developed relatively recently.[] They go back to at least the 18th century, and are commonly found in the works and letters of such writers as Benjamin Franklin.

"Literally" being used figuratively as an intensifier is often viewed as a recent change, but in fact usage dates back to the 1760s.[5]

"Aks" as a production of African American English only.[] Use of "aks" in place of "ask" dates back to the works of Chaucer in Middle English, though typically in this context spelled "ax".[6]

In May 2017, US President Donald Trump expressed surprise that the phrase "prime the pump," which he said he had coined as an analogy for economic stimulus, had been used before in that context and is at least as early as the Great Depression.[7]

The word "recency" itself. It is commonly used in consumer marketing ("analyze the recency of customer visits")[8] and many think it was coined for that purpose.[] But its first known use was in 1612.[9]